Dorchester South railway station is one of two stations serving the town of Dorchester in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, England, the other one being Dorchester West. The station is on the

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south we ...

. It is down the line from Railways in the United Kingdom historically are measured in miles and chains. There are 80 chains to one mile. and is situated between and . The station is managed by South Western Railway, who operate all trains serving it.

History

The station opened on 1 June 1847 when the

Southampton and Dorchester Railway The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was an English railway company formed to join Southampton in Hampshire with Dorchester in Dorset, with hopes of forming part of a route from London to Exeter. It received Parliamentary authority in 1845 and ...

was completed. The station was built as an east facing terminus with the intent of continuing the line westwards towards Exeter. These plans were never realised, and instead another line was built from the terminus towards Weymouth. This joined with the Great Western Railway's line (now the

Heart of Wessex Line The Heart of Wessex Line, also known as the Bristol to Weymouth Line, is a railway line that runs from to and Weymouth in England. It shares the Wessex Main Line as far as Westbury and then follows the course of the Reading to Taunton Line a ...

) from Dorchester West and continued as a joint line to Weymouth. Originally named ''Dorchester'', the station was renamed ''Dorchester South'' on 26 September 1949. The station remained a terminus with trains from Bournemouth having to enter the station, reverse out back the way they came then reverse again and proceed to Weymouth. Trains from Weymouth had to pass the station, then reverse into it, and then back out. This process often caused delays and brought criticism following an accident in 1877. As a result, a curved platform was provided for southbound trains; this was brought into use during 1878. Eastbound trains still reversed into the original platform until 1970 when a platform was built on the curve. The buildings on the trackless original platform remained in use until 1989. As part of the modernisation work preparatory to electrification a new booking hall was built on the curved platform, replacing the building on the original platform which was then demolished.

Stationmasters

*W. Mears ca. 1873 - 1881 *J.C. Holiday 1881 - 1893 (formerly station master at Ringwood) *H.J. Smith 1893 - 1898 *George Hart 1898 - 1907 (formerly station master at Wimborne) *A. Pearce 1908 - 1909 (formerly station master at Tavistock, afterwards station master of Bournemouth West) *Charles William Eve 1909 - 1911 (afterwards station master at Bournemouth West) *S.H. Smith 1911 - 1923 (formerly station master at Wimborne) *William John Liley 1923 - 1928 (formerly station master at Brockenhurst) *Percival George Collins 1928 - 1930 (afterwards station master at Eastbourne) *H.M. Wood 1930 - 1942 (from 1932 also station master of Dorchester West) *John Charles Leach 1942 - 1945 (also in charge of Dorchester West) *S.A. Smith from 1945 (formerly station master at Winchester and Shawford, also in charge of Dorchester West)

Motive power depot

The Southampton and Dorchester Railway constructed a

motive power depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine she ...

at the station in 1847 together with a

coal stage A coaling tower, coal stage, coaling plant or coaling station is a facility used to load coal as fuel into railway steam locomotives. Coaling towers were often sited at motive power depots or locomotive maintenance shops. In the early years o ...

and

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

. This closed in 1957 and was demolished soon afterwards.

Modernisation

During late 2010/early 2011, CCTV monitor podiums were installed on platform 1 (similar to those used on the London Underground) so as to allow the guards of each London-bound train to have easier visuals of the platforms (because platform 1 has a tight curve, and makes it difficult to see the length of the platform whilst a train is in the vicinity of the station). New entrances have also been constructed from the southern end of platform 1 to the adjacent car park, as well as new waiting shelters built near the new entrance and on the site of the former brick hut on platform 2.

Services

All services at Dorchester South are operated by South Western Railway. On weekdays and Saturdays, the station is served by two trains per hour between and . One of these is a stopping service calling at most stops northbound to , then , and London Waterloo. Southbound this service calls at and Weymouth. The second is a semi-fast service calling at principal stations only northbound to Winchester, then and London Waterloo. Southbound, this service runs non-stop to Weymouth. On Sundays, the service is reduced to hourly in each direction. A less frequent service is also available from the nearby Dorchester West station, which is served by Great Western Railway, with trains heading towards Westbury,

Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...

and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

Notes

References

References Sources * * * * *

External links

{{Dorset railway stations South Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1847 Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations served by South Western Railway 1847 establishments in England DfT Category D stations